This invention is directed to a waffle-style cutter for slicing fruit, vegetables or the like. More particularly, the cutter includes a blade-holding plate at whose front edge a wavy cutting blade is arranged, two frame ledges arranged essentially parallel, and a slide plate that adjoins the frame ledges and can be placed parallel to the blade-holding plate, whereby a narrow gap remains between the trailing edge of the slide plate and the cutter blade.
The prior art from which the present invention proceeds is schematically shown in the drawings with reference to FIG. 1.
As shown, the known waffle-style cutter comprises two frame ledges 2 that are joined in their back part by a blade-holding plate 3 and are joined in their front part by two cross-stays 4 as well as a diagonal stay 5 arranged at the underside of the waffle-style cutter. A slide plate (not shown) arranged parallel to the blade-holding plate 3 can be placed in the front part of the waffle-style cutter. This slide plate has noses arranged at its underside engaging in front of projections 7 arranged at the level of the stays 4 and 5 or lying thereupon. For fixing the slide plate in two possible latched positions, a nose 8 is provided at the front end at at least one frame ledge 2. This nose 8 engages corresponding lateral notches in the slide plate. In the two possible latched positions of the slide plate, this is arranged such that a narrow gap, that allows the cut material to fall through, remains between the trailing edge of the slide plate and a cutter blade 9 that is secured to the leading edge of the blade-holding plate 3.
The known waffle-style cutter is disadvantageous insofar as the slide plate sags when pressed onto the material to be cut and thereby deforms over time or even breaks in an extreme case.
It is therefore the object of the invention to improve the known waffle-style cutter to such effect that a sag of the slide plate when pressed onto the material to be cut is no longer possible and, thus, to improve the functionability and useful life of the waffle-style cutter overall.
These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.